Monday, August 28, 2017

Finding the Prepared Lost Sheep


Alrighty, so this week we are going to talk about something that is central to missionary work. It is true whether out here in the Philippines, or at home (even by simply inviting people to church). That thing is finding. The thing about finding is that it usually involves going far out of our comfort zone – we are normally talking to someone new about something unfamiliar to them. The thing about finding is it brings a better understanding of the potential of all people. Sometimes people are content with how their lives are. But, if you know more about their potential – you feel a responsibility to go over to their house, go to their gate, and yell "Tao Po" until they start listening to you and learning about what God's plan is for them.
      
As missionaries, it can be a lot easier for us to just keep visiting the same people, not looking for other people to teach. I have learned that the best way you can show your love for the people is to make it your goal to teach every single family in an area about their potential. If they all have heard it out of your mouth, then you did a good job. We often fall short of our potential because we don’t help others to realize their own. I don’t know if that was deep or not but you get the idea.
      
Finding in missionary work unlocks a door that we didn’t know was closed. It is our job to teach everyone we can, but not just that – we need to focus on the people that are ready to listen, change, and realize their own potential.
      
We found a lot of people this week, but when we came back to visit them again I noticed something. Some of the people were pretty much done listening to us. These are the people that are not ready to change. The other group of people had either started reading the Book of Mormon or had prayed about our message. These people immediately saw the blessings of this in their lives and were excited to see us again. It lets us fulfill something that we don’t always even know is there. We see people become better than they thought they could be. In turn we are lifted up in our own lives and we are able to reach a higher potential we didn’t know was possible.

Culture: There are many MANY spousal relationships here where the two people are only seeing each other once a week, sometimes it is even less than that. When this happens, all the responsibilities in a house fall on the mother because the Father is out working 6 days in a week. The problem can be that they aren’t really close and they grow farther apart when they never see each other. I know several families this happens to with not just the "Tatay" (or Father), but the "Nanay" (or mother) as well. In these cases all of the kids live together and get sent money to subsist. They might see their whole family in one place maybe once a month sometimes less than that.

Tagalesson: Para sa Tagalesson nito matetype lang ako, ito lang para sa inyo na mas matuto ng "grammar" at "sentence structure". aywan ko kung ano ang sasabihin ko ngayon, pero mahal ko kayo, kahit ano ang paghihirap sa inyong buhay mo ngayon, kayang ninyo. Naniniwala ako sa inyo. Gusto Kong sabihin sa aking kapatid na babae na si Caroline. "Happy Birthday”. magandang halimbawa siya para sa akin at kung hindi kayo nagsabi nayan sa kanya, sabihin niyo nga lang.
Kayang Kaya niyo.

Have a great week.
Mahal Ko Kayo.
Elder Faulkner

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